


Worth Saying Out Loud

by fennecfawkes



Series: Relief [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Domesticity, Cheese Blintzes, Established Relationship, M/M, Pillow Talk, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Tony Stark Wakeup Calls, Unrepentant Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-14
Updated: 2014-04-14
Packaged: 2018-01-19 07:49:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1461475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fennecfawkes/pseuds/fennecfawkes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which words are exchanged and Tony is a mother hen. Not my characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth Saying Out Loud

It’s been four nights since he was at the Tower and that’s four nights too many, but Nick needed him somewhere else, so that’s where Phil was. But he’s back now, and he’s been asleep just long enough for a blue-tinged nightmare when he feels a familiar pair of arms encircle him. Phil shakes his head, shakes off the thoughts of gods and monsters, and turns in Clint’s embrace. Clint’s smiling sleepily and nuzzles into Phil’s neck before kissing him twice, the second long and lingering. Phil slings an arm around Clint, who doesn’t like the word ‘boyfriend,’ would prefer to just be referred to as his, as Phil’s and that’s good enough for Phil.

“Hey,” Clint says, soft in tone, rough with sleep.

“Hi,” says Phil. “Missed you.”

“Missed you, too,” Clint says. “Pretty sure Stark hates me for my moping.”

“Stark could never hate you, one half of the cutest couple he’s ever lived with, in his words,” says Phil, smiling and kissing Clint on the cheek. “Anything go down while I was gone?”

“Doombots once, but it’s been pretty quiet. How was the mission?”

“Not as well-organized as I’d expect from a team led by Sitwell.” Phil removes his arm from around Clint to trace the slight wrinkles around Clint’s eyes, scrape along his hairline softly with the tip of his fingernail. Clint shivers involuntarily, and from the grin he gets, Phil can sense that Clint can sense how much he loves that. “Nick’s attempting to have him take over where I left off—reforming Strike Team Delta without you and Natasha, taking over as handler of my non-Avengers assets, that sort of thing. It’s not going so well.”

“That’s because he isn’t you,” Clint says simply. “So you had to step in and help him shoulder the burden of being as important as you were?”

“Basically.” Phil sighs as Clint’s fingertips begin kneading his shoulders. He tries to hold back a groan and fails. Clint grins.

“You don’t have to think about it anymore,” says Clint. “It’s a Saturday, and it’s noon, and there are no aliens in sight. You were having a nightmare and I got you out of it by being adorable. Today will be a good day, Phil.”

“How could you tell? About the nightmare.”

“Your body goes kind of stiff when you’re in the middle of a bad dream,” Clint says. “And you murmur a bit, mostly indistinguishable. I noticed it a couple weeks ago.”

“Do you always wake me up?”

“Would you be mad if I said yes?”

Phil rolls his eyes. “Quite the opposite.” Clint smiles and rubs his nose against Phil’s—something Clint tends to do a lot, but never in front of anyone else. Though Clint’s still plenty affectionate in front of the rest of the team, there’s a kind of private line he never crosses, and Phil loves that about him, the secretive nature about the parts of their relationship that aren’t for the public eye. It occurs to Phil that neither of them have said “I love you” yet, even though Phil most assuredly loves Clint, and he’s close to certain Clint feels the same way. He wonders idly to himself if there really is a right time and place for such declarations, or if it should just emerge naturally, like—

“I love you, you know,” Clint says conversationally, tracing patterns along Phil’s back, dipping his head to kiss Phil at the place where his jawline meets his ear. “Figured it was worth saying out loud.”

“Wait, that’s it?” Phil can’t help snorting in disbelief, which causes Clint to all-out laugh. “That’s your sweeping declaration?”

“Did you ever really think me saying that would be a sweeping declaration? I thought I was being pretty obvious for the last month. Before that, too, and before I go any further, sir, I’d like some confirmation that I’m not alone in this, because I’m about to feel insecure for the first time in my life.”

“First time, huh?” Phil kisses Clint. “I love you, too. So much it terrifies me sometimes.”

“Phil Coulson’s not scared of anything,” says Clint, his tone teasing.

“I’ve never been quite so attached to someone else before, Clint,” Phil says. “It’s not familiar.”

“Me neither. But I kind of like this kind of fear.”

“I kind of like it, too.” Phil’s about to initiate what he’s come to think of as a teenage-style makeout session (or sesh, according to Clint) when he hears, “I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?”

Phil looks across the room, where Tony Stark is darkening the doorway.

“It’s noon and JARVIS’ surveillance has been mysteriously cut off in this room,” says Tony. “I just wanted to make sure our little bird was still alive and well. Didn’t realize I’d get two clean bills of health for the price of one.”

“Open the shades and I will shoot you,” Clint warns him.

“Is this a new thing that’s begun in the past four days?” Phil asks Clint. “Stark wakeup calls? If so, would you like to move into my apartment with me? You’ve been there. It’s nice. No onsite shooting range, granted, but I do always stock the fridge with the ingredients for cheese blintzes.”

“You know how to make blintzes?” Clint blinks at Phil. “Damn, sir, you’ve been holding out on me.”

“OK, the ‘sir’ thing’s a little weird, but I can see why you might find it hot, Coulson,” says Tony. “Are you even listening to me? Did you even notice I’m in the room?”

“If we hadn’t noticed, Stark, we’d be in the middle of a super-hot makeout sesh,” Clint says, sitting up and stretching.

“Are you 12?” Tony asks.

“Do I have to write you up for causing discord within your team, Stark?” Phil gets out of bed.

“I can fix any discord with the next thing I say: Bruce is making pizza, and it’ll be ready in half an hour. That’s all I came here to say.” Tony takes a bow, turns on his heel, and—there’s no other word for it—scampers away.

“He’s the most ridiculous person I know,” says Clint. “And I grew up in a circus.”

“He’s right about the pizza, though,” Phil says. “Heals all wounds. Want to share the shower?”

“It’s going to take a lot longer than half an hour if we share the shower, Phil.”

“Fair. See you upstairs?”

Clint steps around the bed, pulls Phil into his arms, and kisses him, that seamless combination of hard and soft that only Clint can pull off. “Yeah, now you can go.”

“Thanks for the permission, Specialist.”

“Anytime, sir.” Clint salutes, and Phil shakes his head as he begins to walk away. “Love you.”

Phil looks over his shoulder. “We can do that now, then?”

“We could’ve done that from the beginning,” says Clint. “We were just too chicken shit for it.”

Phil nods. “Right. Love you, too.” And if he’s grinning like an idiot as he makes his way to his floor, well, at least he’s not scampering.


End file.
